Al Neal, contributing writer to People’s World spoke with America’s Work Force on Dec. 10 to discuss the Netflix original movie The Irishman.
The Irishman, released to the streaming platform Netflix in late November 2019, is about Jimmy Hoffa, the Teamsters and mob influence in unions and businesses. Neal expressed the aspects of the movie he thought were both good and bad, especially when discussing the history and details of unions. He said that they failed to display the importance of unions back then and why people were fighting so hard to bust them during organizing. Another complaint Neal had in the way unions were displayed in the film is that he said they were “painted badly.” Neal also said that the film did a good job focusing on the history of Jimmy Hoffa and mob influence on unions and other aspects of businesses during the 1950s.
Frank Mathews, administrative director of the Communication Workers of America District 4 spoke about Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. As of November, the PRO Act is officially a bi-partisan bill, and this is good progress, in hopes to see it push through the senate. Mathews also discussed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and how it will include environmental protections, worker protections, prescription drug prices and labor law enforcement.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc spoke about Cummins, the largest maker of truck engines in the United States, with layoffs starting in quarter one of 2020 and how it could leave some drivers having to pay for their own gas to make it home from their deliveries.
To listen to this show, click the play button below.